Neuromarketing is a new audience measurement approach that uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), along with other fancy brain reading machines formerly reserved for the medical industry, to observe and measure brain activity in people exposed to advertisements. The resulting data can be used to craft more effective ads and target them more accurately to the right consumer. Says the director of a neuromarketing consultancy, “Emotions cannot necessarily be accurately described. We can see the discrepancy between what you say and what your brain says, and reduce the margin of error.”
advertising
Circuit City's Clever Circular Ad Misprint Explanation
By 10.11.07
Mark writes:
Saw a great deal at Circuit City in yesterday’s Sunday ad. Not crazy, but great. $5 for a Sony 1G Microvault Flash drive… The ad said, “Save $25. Reg. 29.95.”
Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"
By 10.8.07
Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, “Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop.”
Another Good Reason To Hate The "Life Takes Visa" Campaign
By 10.8.07
Credit Slips points out another reason we loathe the Life Takes Visa campaign. You know, the one where everyone moves in blissful synchronicity, swiping their debit cards for small items, then the party stops and everyone glowers at the tardbucket who pays for stuff with cash.
Hey Nets Fans, Welcome To The Izod Arena?
By 10.5.07
The New Jersey Nets have located their perfect sponsor after what was said to be a rigorous search. Izod!
These Frappuccino Prices Are Confusing
By 10.4.07
Someone explain how this works. Jason tells us that Starbucks Frappuccinos 4-packs normally retails at the Target in Amherst, NY, for $5.24, but there’s a new price tag on them for $5.49, boasting they’re, “Even Lower than our advertised price.” So, in the circulars they’re advertising them for, say, $5.99? Why not a sign that says, “BIG SAVINGS” and then in small letters, “as compared to a piece of gold bullion.”
People Suddenly Love V8? What?
By 9.29.07
An article in Newsday asks the question: “Why are Campbell’s V8 juices suddenly selling?” We didn’t even realize they were.
Google Says It's Looking Into New Privacy Technologies
By 9.28.07
Google is looking into new ways to protect the privacy of its huge number of users, says their chief legal officer. These include “crumbled cookies,” which spread a user’s information out so that it’s not connected to a single piece of code, and providing better information on the source of each ad that’s served.
New Consumer Types To Define You
By 9.28.07
Are you a karma queen or a geek god? A couple of fancy New York branding types have released a new book that suggests several new consumer “types,” including those two as well as the “innerpreneur,” the “denim dad,” and the “parentocrat.”
Gum Company Paid ADA For Study That Earned It Their Seal Of Approval
By 9.28.07
For the first time ever, the American Dental Association is putting its seal on some Wrigley’s chewing gum products—they’ll now say that the ADA considers them products that are “clinically proven to help prevent cavities, reduce plaque acid and strengthen teeth.” The ADA and some health professionals say that this is a perfectly acceptable application of the seal, because a full study was carried out that proved the products work. The only problem is, the study was privately funded and the gum companies partially paid for them.
New Giant-Sized Ads Visible From Airplane
By 9.27.07
The next time you fly, if you’re going in or out of a major hub you might have the delight and pleasure of seeing an ad 5 acres in size as you take off or land. Ad-Air is launching the new ads at airports in Atlanta, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.
By 9.25.07
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Thanks to distinctively annoying ad campaign, HeadOn sales are up 234%. [AdAge]
By 9.24.07
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Pudding Media is like Skype except that it’s free, supported by the ads it displays on your computer which change based on your topics of conversation. [NYT]
Best Buy Emails To Let You Know They Won't Be Honoring A Mistake In Their Ad
By 9.21.07
Several of our readers received this email from Best Buy, explaining that they won’t be honoring a mistake in the upcoming September 23, 2007 Best Buy ad.
Video Of Old TV Production Company Logos
By 9.17.07
We’re inexplicably drawn to this sort of thing. Maybe it’s our fascination with marketing and advertising. Maybe it’s nostalgia for Ubu. He’s a good dog.
Tiny USB Flash Drive In Entertainment Weekly
By 9.17.07
CBS and Cadillac are running a fancy-schmancy new ad campaign in the September 21st issue of “Entertainment Weekly” (the one with Britney on the cover) that includes a free “world’s smallest” 128MB flash drive. It doesn’t appear to be in the issues for sale on stands, so if you know anyone who subscribes, ask them for their copy.
By 9.14.07
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A reader at Neatorama reveals the dark Masonic secret of the Toblerone logo: a hidden bear! If you look closely at the mountain that’s on every bar of Toblerone chocolate, you can see a bear standing on his hind legs. It also looks like there’s a goldfish cracker near the base of the mountain, but that might just be because we’re hungry. [Neatorama]
First Black Friday Spotted: Ace Hardware. Who Cares.
By 9.14.07
Much like the red robin of Spring, this season’s first Black Friday ad, one for Ace Hardware, heralds the advent of Thanksgiving.
